This is the tale of a little boy who wouldn't take no for an answer when it came to hockey, and continues to wage that battle well into adulthood.

Pat Curcio, 39, is so committed to his sport that he wears multiple hats with the San Francisco Bulls, the city's new minor-league hockey team. He is the coach, general manager, president and a part owner - so he answers to himself rather than the steady stream of naysayers that filled his early hockey career.

It all started in Toronto, where Curcio's parents immigrated from Italy. Their small son became enraptured with the local obsession, ice hockey, but they wanted no part of it. Hockey was not part of their culture, and it was time-consuming and expensive. Curcio's father, Ralph, worked long hours and couldn't carpool to games and practices.

"I wanted to be a hockey player from the age of 2," he said. "My parents were like, 'Go to school, get a job, forget hockey.' When I was 8, I tried to join my first team, they told me I couldn't, and I cried.

"So I went to the registration and signed myself up, and they said, 'Where are your parents?' I said, 'No problem, they'll come sign.' Eight months later, someone called to find out why they never signed or paid, and my parents were furious. I told them, 'I'm running away unless you let me play.' "

On the small side, in the days before new rules opened up the ice for more diminutive players, Curcio was overlooked when it came to elite minor-level teams. He tried out for the Toronto Red Wings minor-level team when he was 15, but was cut, and went to a lower-profile squad.

Minor-league tour

He was spotted playing there when a Toronto coach went to scout a different player - and he wound up joining the Red Wings after all, helping the team win the Air Canada Cup. Every player on that Toronto team was drafted - except Curcio.

He meandered through junior hockey and then went to Europe, where he played in Milan and then for four German teams, including the Hannover Scorpions - owned by, yes, the German rock band the Scorpions.

"They came to the games; we got to hang out with them," Curcio said. "I wanted them to sing the national anthem at the Cow Palace, but we couldn't correlate the dates with the tour."

Curcio began coaching after his playing career was over, and eventually decided he might like to invest in a minor-league team. Las Vegas was a possibility four years ago. Curcio thought it was a done deal and resigned his coaching job with the London (Ontario) Knights - and then it all fell through, leaving him without a team.

He took a coaching job in Utah, and there met his wife, Elouise Bird-Curcio. It was while accompanying her on a business trip to San Francisco that he had an epiphany.

"I thought, 'How does this city not have a hockey team?' " Curcio said, astonishment still in his voice. "And that's when things started to come together."

Still, this is Curcio, so the going was rough. "It was incredible adversity," he admitted. "Partners came and went. Money was raised. Then we needed more. The lease with the state of California was tricky. And the Cow Palace hadn't had hockey in 16 or 17 years."

"Nothing ever comes easy for Pat," said his younger brother Vince. "He had two friends bail on him in San Francisco, and he had to find new investors. But he never gives up. Ever. And he always proves he can do it."

Costly renovations

The Cow Palace presented problem after problem. Curcio had been told it would take about $100,000 to get it back up and running for hockey. Not even close, as it turned out.

The ice system had been ripped out - and was removed improperly, leading to rusted pipes and rotted floorboards. During a water-pressure test, a pipe exploded, and water gushed "about 200 feet up toward the seats," Curcio said.

There was no sound system. No scoreboard. No offices. No phones. No TV cable. No Internet.

"We started from the bare bones," Curcio said.

Several million dollars later, the Bulls had a state-of-the-art brine-salt ice system - an engineer figured out how to add an external ice-making system - plus a scoreboard and sound.

A friend on the East Coast, knowing Curcio had blown his budget and more on building improvements, gave him a Zamboni, sending it across the country in an 18-wheeler. That's when Curcio and Co. learned another quirk of the Cow Palace: There is no loading dock.

"It arrived on a 90-degree day in October, and we had no way to get it off the truck," Curcio said. "We were standing there, saying, 'Well, now what are we going to do?' when we saw a flat-bed truck unloading stuff across the street. We flagged him down, and had him back up to the 18-wheeler - but it was still a 2-foot drop."

The Zamboni puzzle

So Curcio and his crew found four forklifts and raised the flatbed truck up to be level with the Zamboni and pushed it over, then lowered the truck back down.

It broke down during the second intermission of the Bulls' very first game.

"That's what you get for free," Curcio said cheerily.

"Any time there's an issue, he tries to get through it," team captain Justin Bowers said. "Pat doesn't roll over easily. It's good to know your coach is that determined."

Despite the headaches and the expense, Curcio had correctly judged the desire for hockey in San Francisco, and while the NHL lockout might have helped boost business somewhat, it's the merchandise sales that are through the roof. The black, orange and gold jerseys and hats are such a hit, the team cannot keep them in stock. The team's sales goal for the season was the league average of $150,000 - and the Bulls did that in their first two home games.

"We had nothing left at the counters," Curcio said. "People were calling and complaining. We were panicking. We ordered a triple supply for HP Pavilion."

Several thousand tickets for the Bulls' game at HP Pavilion in San Jose on Dec. 17 sold out in minutes, and the Bulls sold 2 1/2 U-Hauls' worth of apparel. Fourth out of five teams in the ECHL's Pacific Division, the Bulls are 12-17, with one overtime loss and three shootout losses.

Sharks affiliation

But Curcio is working to improve the club, and if the lockout ends, he expects there will be more personnel movement between the Bulls and Sharks, who have an affiliate agreement. Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said Curcio's ability to get things done was one reason San Jose has teamed up with San Francisco.

"He is a go-getter," Wilson said. "Pat has a ton of energy, and his enthusiasm is contagious. He's a solution-finder. You have to admire people who put that kind of work in."

If the lockout continues, Curcio anticipates that several NHL players will join the team. Sharks forward Ryane Clowe is already on the roster, though so far Clowe, who is making $525 a week, has only practiced with the team and helped to coach.

Curcio's workday starts at 5:30 a.m. and on game nights can go past 10 p.m., but he is living his dream, a hard-fought one at that.

"He's very passionate about what he does," Bowers said. "When he played, he wasn't that talented, but he made a career of doing what he had to in order to win. He's gone after what he wants. And he gets it."